Bargaining for new national collective employment agreements for academic and general staff in New Zealand’s seven
traditional universities has been deferred for the remainder of the year. This follows progress in national bargaining,
most notably an agreement by university employers to engage in a working party with the unions to look at the form of
bargaining which would be most productive in the sector. This includes looking at the benefits of multi-employer and
multi-union employment agreements.
The employers have also agreed to work with the unions on a “white paper” on funding and salaries which would form the
basis of lobbying Government, and have agreed on a joint union and employer request for tripartite meetings with
Government to identify and address issues facing the sector.
The change came during last-minute negotiations called in an attempt to avert national strike action, scheduled to take
place throughout May.
Speaking on behalf of the combined university unions, Association of University Staff General Secretary Helen Kelly said
the deferral did not signal any lessening of commitment to national bargaining and she expected new national
negotiations to begin early next year.
“The decision to revert to enterprise agreements in this bargaining round came only after Massey and Canterbury
Universities gave a clear indication that they believed there may be benefit in national collective agreements,” she
said. “That is a significant change and one we have acknowledged by deferring national bargaining this year”
Ms Kelly said the change was important given the employers’ refusal, to that point, to engage with each other or the
unions on a collective and cooperative basis. “It certainly gives us a practical base from which to address funding and
salary issues in a productive manner,” she said.
While national bargaining has been deferred, settlement of local agreements will now depend on acceptable pay offers
being made.
Union members at Auckland, Waikato, Victoria (academic only), Lincoln, and Canterbury will consider the pay offers made
to them over the next fortnight. Those at Massey and Otago have rejected their salary offers and will determine whether
to seek further negotiations with their employers or to take industrial action.
Current salary offers are:
Auckland: 3.5% for academic and general staff
Waikato:3% for academic and general staff
Massey: 3% for academic staff. General staff have been offered 2.8% with a further 0.2% from 1 January 2005
Victoria: 4% for academic staff and 2.2% for general staff
Canterbury:3.5% for academic and general staff
Lincoln: 2.6% for academic and general staff
Otago:3.5% for academic staff and 2.5% for general staff (from 1 May)
Ends
For further information or comment please contact:
Helen Kelly, General Secretary, Association of University Staff (AUS)
Ph (04)915 6691 (work) (04) 385 3153 027 4366 308 (mob)
Email Helen.kelly@aus.ac.nz